Hundreds of slaves freed in Moscow

Human rights activists say that most of the Vietnamese immigrants detained in a raid are not just immigration law infringers, but also victims of slavery.

Human rights activists believe that roundup of illegal
immigrants carried out in Moscow has revealed a much more serious issue –
slavery. They are calling on the government to send the former slaves back home
as soon as possible, and to lay criminal charges against the businessmen
involved in this exploitation.

Inspections conducted in the very problematic Golyanovo
District in the east part of Moscow found an underground factory where hundreds
of illegal migrants, mostly from Vietnam, were working. The reception centre,
where people are kept before deportation, could not fit all the detainees.
Therefore, the authorities had to deploy a tent camp for 900 people.

Human rights activists quickly intervened in the situation
and started assisting the detained illegal immigrants. The temporary tent camp
has a dry cleaner, and a place for charging cell phones. Drinking water and
food are brought in for the detainees. Human rights activists say that most of the
detained Vietnamese are not just immigration law infringers, but also victims
of illegal exploitation, in other words, they are slaves.

The temporary tent camp in the eastern part of Moscow. Source: ITAR-TASS

“I announced in the presence of all law enforcement agencies
that this camp contains former slaves. They are victims. Now we need to
interrogate them, and initiate criminal charges for the use of slave labour,
for unpaid salaries and illegal businesses. Information for a large criminal
case can be collected here. It is important to find the organisers, who have
earned tens of millions dollars on these people,” says Vladimir Osechkin, head
of the Gulagu.net social network, which assists prisoners.

The human rights activist believes that it is necessary to
seize the property of the slaveholders, and that this money should be used to
pay compensation to the victims. “It is obvious, that these people were not
paid, and they were kept in unacceptable conditions. In the camp, I have not
seen investigators from the public prosecutor’s office, who could work on these
issues. The fact that illegal immigrants are not interrogated, and the details
about their work are not sought out, indicates the unwillingness of authorities
to conduct a complete and thorough investigation,” Osechkin expressed his indignation.
He noted that an anti-corruption investigation should also be carried out,
since such a huge production could not exist without the knowledge of local
officials.

The human rights activist says that by now, information about
the migrants has been sent to the embassies of their home countries, and in a
couple of days, as soon as their documents are prepared, they will be sent
home.

Nikita Mkrtchyan, a member of the Institute of Demographics
of the Higher School of Economics, does not exclude the possibility that there
really are former slaves among the detainees in Golyanovo. “Trafficking in
human beings is a global problem, and it exists in all countries. Russia is
also a country that has problems of illegal exploitation and less frequently,
it also experience thefts of its own people,” he explained. The scientist notes
that such cases should be dealt with by the police in cooperation with human
rights activists. “The fact is that people, who have found themselves in a
difficult situation, are often afraid to go to the police, but they do trust
human rights activists,” concluded Mkrtchyan.

The fact that in the camp there are people that were forcedly
exploited is also noted by Danila Medvedev, a human rights activist from the
Russian Trans-Humanitarian Movement. He writes in his blog that last year it
was in Golyanovo that he personally encountered slavery in Moscow. Back then,
they managed to free 10 women, but the police tried to accuse these slaves of
“illegal migration”. He says that no criminal charges for slavery and slave
trade were made in that case. The human rights activist says that the
enterprises with illegal immigrants, closed in the eastern part of the capital
city, are not the only ones, but even one closed factory is a great step forward.
“These people were rescued and freed. They do not understand everything that is
happening to them, because previously in Moscow they only knew the factory,
where they were kept as slaves. They do not know what to expect, but for them
this camp is a place where they get some rest from the exhausting slave labour,
12–14 hours a day without salary – and deportation is a chance for them to
return to a normal life at home, and not a punishment. An illegal migrant, who
does not obtain a work permit, but is free and works for a salary, is not the
same as a slave, having no rights and working with no pay for the owner,”
concluded the blogger.

According to the media, more than one million real slaves
work in the Russian economy. Moreover, these statistics are 13 years old.
However, Danila Medvedev says that nothing serious has been done over the past
decade in Russia to combat slavery, and the situation may have become even
worse.